Nature Nuggets #5: Nature Scavenger Hunt

by Ariella Rogge on March 24

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Scavenger Hunts are extremely flexible and effective teaching games. A scavenger hunt can be designed to emphasize almost any concept with in the natural world and can be used in an alley, a city park, or your own backyard. The thrill of the search and the joy of discovery make them fun adventures for kids. Items do not have to be collected—children can draw pictures or take photos of some of the items in place. Here is one example:

Nature Scavenger Hunt

  1. Three different leaves
  2. A seed which is specially adapted to blow in the wind
  3. A “hitchhiker seed” which travels by sticking to animals and birds
  4. An insect home
  5. Something you find in nature that should not be there
  6. A piece of wood or rock that looks like an animal
  7. Three different colors of green
  8. A work of art inspired by nature (drawn/painted by each child)
  9. A sketch of a bird you see
  10. An animal track
  11. A part of a tree that produces food
  12. Find six natural items and make a timeline from youngest to oldest
  13. A rock which contains crystals
  14. Something in nature that has a good smell
  15. Something with a rough texture
  16. Something red in nature

Scavenger hunts are always fun and a great way for kids to slow down and really work on their observation skills. Download this copy of our Nature Scavenger hunt, and encourage your kids to write their own for you to try!

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Ariella Rogge
About Ariella Rogge

Ariella started her career at Sanborn when she was twelve. After five years of camper and five years of Sanborn staff experience, she continued her work with kids in the high school classroom. Ariella and her family returned to Sanborn in 2001 to take on the Program Director role which she held til 2012. She and Elizabeth Marable became co-directors of High Trails in 2013 and then Ariella became the High Trails Director in 2020. In the fall of 2022 she became the Director of Sanborn Western Camps, overseeing the director teams of both Big Spring and High Trails. She lists mountain golf, Gymkhana, climbing mountains and making Pad Thai in the backcountry as some of her favorite activities at camp. Ariella received a B.A. in English from Colorado College and is a certified secondary English educator,an ACCT Level 2 Ropes Course Technician, an ARC lifeguard and NREMT and WEMT. She lives in Florissant in the summer and in Green Mountain Falls during the school year so she can stay involved with the busy lives of her husband, Matt, and two teenage sons, Lairden and Karsten.